Game Profile

You must venture through eight perilous areas filled with enemies determined to stop you. As if that wasn't tough enough, Master Higgins loses vitality over time; so he must grab fruit, milk and whatever other goodies he can as he races towards his goal. Smash eggs to find useful items like the axe and skateboard to help you progress. At the end of each stage, face off against the witch doctor’s various guises. Go, Master Higgins, go!

Game Review

Wii U eShop Review

Adventure Island started life as the SEGA-produced arcade title Wonder Boy, which itself was ported to several different home consoles and spawned a popular series of sequels with show-stealing box art. NES-owners missed out on the title, and would have...

Game Review

Virtual Console Review

Adventure Island is somewhat of a Mario clone - you guide Master Higgins to the end of every level (8 worlds with 4 levels each, sound familiar?) dodging wildlife, boulders and fire in order to defeat the witch doctor at the end of each world (also...

User Comments (47)

I remember this one...not as good as its sequels, in which you got to ride on dinosaurs...some of which breathed fire. Challenging at times, this is worth your wii points if you like old school platforming...just remember to keep snagging the fruits. This is probably a sign that the sequels are to come. And heyy--who doesn't love throwing stone clubs at diabolical snail monsters whilst riding a skateboard? That's right- no one.

This is a game I bought completely for nostalgia. I remember the days when I was young, at the video store and seeing that big Rhino Witch Doctor on the cover, so when I saw this on the VC, I remember how fun this game was. The review hit it right on the nail, basically a prehistoric Mario game.

You're a cave man with a skate board who rides dinos! This is a classic series. I don't remember if the first one did but they even had the overworld view where you could see where you were going next sort of like super mario world but u couldn't control it. Really cool idea for an adventure game back then.

I had Adventure Island for the Game Boy and remember it having dinosaurs to ride. I assume it was a port of a console version, anyone have an idea which one? I'd definitely pick it up... just an all around fun game.

This game just might be the best game in the series IMO. The sequels were good, but I really think this one still takes the cake. Maybe the nostalgia is influencing my opinion, but this game is a solid, challenging game.

Am I the only person who just never liked this game. All the levels felt pretty much the same. Especially after beating the first boss. There really isn't anything new after that. The levels were too simple, and they allowed no interaction (no climbing, bouncing, brick-breaking, going down pipes, through doors, anything). It just felt like a wanna-be Mario that they tried to make cool by throwing in a skateboard. I didn't even know anyone liked this game. Some of its sequels looked better, though.

YES!!! Me and my brothers were convinced that this would never be released cause we thought that Nintendo wouldn't see the use after releasing New adventure island. THIS is AVENTURE ISLAND at its purest form, with the difficulty that gives no mercy whatsoever! I admit the New Adventure Island has more diversity, but the challenge just isn't there, and the music is not as catchy as the originals(although the boss music was nice). To all players who THINK they are the masters of platformers or are just looking for a HARD or a FUN game, step right up and buy it. The difficulty of this game is CLOSE to that of the Ghouls n' ghost series, but the cheat (which I've never tried) will give infinite continues, but if you're not good enough, you'll just end up dying over and over again. So beware...

I had this for my NES back in the day. I traded it in at a flea market for a copy of Mega Man II, which I then traded in with $4 for Final Fantasy. Those were the days.

This is a fun, fast-paced little platformer, but the controls aren't as tight as what Nintendo made us used to, and the graphics have a bit of a shallow/cartoony look to them. Worth checking out, especially for all of the Wonderboy/AI faithful around here.

This is a lot better than dull Adventure Island II for NES, but not as good as the Master Systems Wonderboy. That game had amusing bonus levels. And a regular continue screen without having to chase any "Hudson Bee". On the upper hand, I like Adventure Islands music, so I´ll download it.

I still own the cartridge for NES. It was one of the first few that I bought during my "Classic Gaming Resurgence Part III" that I had this past winter.

Overall, this is a solid game... but it's really nothing to write home about. The game get's a bit monotonous, IMO. In saying all this, it's still fun and a classic. If you have some extra Wii points and don't know what to buy... this wouldn't be a bad choice. But this game is by NO means spectacular. I gave it a 3/5.

I also just bought this game and enjoying playing it alot. I remember playing it as a kid but I have never managed to beat even the first level. Now it's time for revenge So far I have come past the first boss. I'm loving all the extra hidden treasures and bonus stages and don't want to spoil all the fun finding some of them by watching walkthroughs.

Both are the same games but Wonder Boy has 40 stages,Adventure Island has only 32 stages.

Wonder Boy has unlimited continues, Adventure Island is just unforgiving and frustrating.

Wonder Boy has the better graphics and music and is the original game,Adventure Island is just an ugly and mediocre port.

I'm glad I decided to get Wonder Boy. I have played some other games from the Wonder Boy series (Wonder Boy in Monster Land and Wonder Boy in Monster World) and they're all good. I have played some other games from the Adventure Island series (New Adventure Island and Super Adventure Island) and they're all bad.